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Saturday, November 17, 2012

Interview + Giveaway w/ Mina Khan!

WELCOME TO THE BLOG, MINA! :)

Mina Khan is a Texas-based writer and food enthusiast. She grew up in Bangladesh on stories of djinns (pronounced "gins"), ghosts and monsters. These childhood fancies now color her fiction. She daydreams of hunky paranormal heroes, magic, mayhem and mischief and writes them down as tales of romance and adventure.

Her first published work, The Djinn's Dilemma (Harlequin Nocturne Cravings 2011), won the novella category of the 2012 Romance Through The Ages (published) contest.

Fifty percent of the proceeds from her second novella, A Tale of Two Djinns (March 2012), is donated to UNICEF for education. Two Djinns is a Romeo & Juliet tale with genies, feminists and a happy ending.

Her newest release, DEAD: A Ghost story (October 2012), is NOT a romance. It’s a multicultural ghost-story that highlights a little known aspect of the immigrant experience. It’s available on AMAZON.

I’m part of the Santa Angela
Renaissance Guild, we are a group of dancers who dress up and perform
medieval dances in public for pleasure. It’s a lot of fun!

I love food – from grocery shopping to
eating – and I love my day job as the food columnist for our local
newspaper. It’s a fun job and I get to review cookbooks + restaurants,
interview chefs and develop recipes.

I recently learned to knit and I’m
knitting scarves like crazy J

TBQ: What inspires you to write? (Bonus points if it includes
sexy men! :) lol)

M: I have written since childhood. Writing is my way of
exploring the world, making sense of issues and, often, to leave behind the
stress and have fun. Nothing makes you forget mountains of laundry and
impending dentist appointments like sexy men who can grant your wishes. So yes,
my genies are very inspiring! :D(Oh yes...*dreamy expression*...Ahem...where was I?)

TBQ: Your first novel, The Djinn's Dilemma, was released last year, and received many high ratings (Congrats!). Can you tell us a little bit about this book, and
why readers are going to love it?

M: Actually The Djinn’s
Dilemma is celebrating its birthday this month –Woot!-- and I’m throwing a
virtual party with all kinds of cool surPrizes (including a very special
Sherrilyn Kenyon package) so check out the birthday
bash!

It’s about a smokin’
hot djinn (genie) assassin who falls for his human target, Texas journalist
Sarah Jasmine White. What’s there not to love about a sexy djinn who can grant
your deepest desires? And a feisty woman who manages to win his heart and
save his gorgeous ass? (That's it--I'm convinced I NEED to read this one ASAP!)

TBQ: Are there other genres you would like to write about?

M: My newest release, Dead: A Ghost Story, is multicultural
fiction with a feminist bent. I was nervous writing this because this NOT a
romance, but I just had to write the story. The idea of the protagonist
Nasreen, an immigrant woman from India, haunted me until I put her into words.

TBQ: I know we all hate this question, author and reader alike.
:) But I have to ask: What are a few of your favorite books and/or authors?

M: Oooh, I love reading…I’ll mention the ones that inspired
me to write: Elizabeth Peters for her Amelia Peabody series, Mercedes Lackey
(esp. her series about Elemental Masters), Lois McMaster Bujold (for her
Vorkosigan Saga), J.D. Robb for her In Death series and Terry Pratchett for his
Discworld books.

TBQ: Have you ever fallen for a hero, either from one of your
books or from another author? If so, who is he and what drew you to him?

M: Lol! I’m in love with all my heroes, especially as I work
on their story J
As for those by other authors: Roark by J.D. Robb (because I love his
confidence & his love for his wife) and Frost by Laurell K. Hamilton
(because I love his broody hot looks ;).

TBQ: What's next-- Can you tell us a little bit about your
upcoming releases or WIP?

M: The Djinn In the Mirror is a paranormal Cindrella story
with a young witch heroine & a wicked sexy djinn playing fairy godmother.

Dahlia, the step-daughter of a power hungry wizard, promises
to free a djinn trapped in a mirror if he rescues her from impending death. But
Azfayel has his own agenda: to trick and seduce his way to freedom. The only
problem is he ends up falling for Dahlia. Can he win his freedom and save the
girl?

This is a WIP and writing it is like riding a
roller-coaster. With every story I try to set myself a challenge and see if I
can pull it off in my writing…well this one is making me push out of my comfort
zone in many, many ways. What do you think of the blurb?(I'm sold! :D)

SPEED ROUND:

A day on a secluded island OR a day at the spa?Eeeep, that’s a tough one. How about a spa located on a
secluded island?(Your wish is my command!)

Reading a spicy romance novel OR a sweet
“my-heart-skips-a-beat” one?

Both! I love to read and I read what suits the mood I
happen to be in.

Which would you rather have an affair with: a sexy
highlander OR a devilishly handsome English lord?

Sexy highlander ;D

Hot summer days OR cold winter nights?

Cold winter nights in front of a fire J

Where would your dream house be: in the city, where all the
action is OR nestled in the mountain where you can enjoy the quiet and the
wilderness?

I’m a city girl and I love the energy.

If you could live in any time period, past or future, which
one would it be?

The Renaissance in Italy or the heydays of the Mughal
era…only if I was filthy rich, politically connected + powerful J

Cover Lover OR Blurb Fan?Cover!

Steamy Novella OR Sweet Novel? (aka, Quickie or Slow Build
Up?)

Both…I want a simmering build up to a whole lot of steam!
Lol! (Nothing at all wrong with that!)

And finally, tell us 3 unique/wacky/fun things about
yourself:

M: Lol! I just did that in question one…but since my
wackiness is plentiful, here are three more:

I spent my early childhood
on a ship sailing across the seas (my dad was a ship’s captain).

I had a cowboy + Indian (as in the Indian-subcontinent kind) wedding.

I just discovered “Ha-Ha!
Yoga” which is all about laughing your way to good health. Our local
instructor is a professional clown. I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed
exercising so much.

The_Book_Queen: Thanks so much for stopping by, Mina|, and please know that
you are welcome back anytime! Do you have any questions for our
readers—something to spark a good discussion? :)

Mina: Thanks so much for having me over Danielle! Enjoyed the
fun interview!

Thank you blog readers for spending time with me, now answer
this: What makes a book a keeper for you?

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

The Djinn's Dilemma by Mina Khan

Publisher: Harlequin Nocturne Cravings (November 1, 2011)

Genre: Paranormal Romance (Warning: HOT!)

Rukh O'Shay, half-djinn and assassin, is used to taking out the bad guys. But his latest assignment, Sarah White, is nothing like he expected. A glimpse of her bright aura reveals her gentle spirit, while her luscious beauty clouds his mind and makes him long for only one thing--to taste her.

Sarah shares the feeling of raw desire at Rukh's touch. He can turn her on with a glance, and satisfies desires she didn't even know she had. But Rukh had been hired to kill her--and the only way to save her is to find out who wants her dead before someone else finishes the job....

Thanks for stopping by, Mina! I'm so sorry about the mix up with dates--I swear, I am going to reorganize ASAP so this does not happen again! I look forward to reading The Djinn's Dilemma--it sounds great!

*TBQ's Book Palace is a member of both the Amazon and Barnes and Nobles affiliates program. By using the links provided to buy products from either website, I receive a very small percentage of the order. To read my full disclosure on the matter, please see this post!

Great interview, Mina! A book is a keeper for me if the story is touching enough to make me think I'll read it again, to find new nuances and relive the great memories! By the way, I'm not entering the give-away, as I already have A Djinn's Dilemma. For those of you who haven't read it, DO! It's a definite keeper - HOT!!

Hey, Rashda (Mina). Loved this interview. Wow! I don't remember hearing about you being raised on a ship story while we were in Colorado with Margie and our other Stellar Scribes. Good luck with your latest venture.

Something that makes a book a keeper/repeat read for me is a great story, wonderful characters. If I totally get lost in the story, laugh and cry and actually dread the ending, or feel like I want to read it again immediately after finishing the book, it will be a keeper :)I have had this book on my Wishlist for a while. Thanks for the giveaway!Junemanning_J2004 at yahoo dot com

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Reviewing: Unless otherwise stated, generally the books we review on TBQ's Book Palace were sent from a publisher/author for us to review. We are not paid to review said book, We receive the book for free, and in exchange provide an honest, but accurate, review. We do not make biased reviews because we received the book free of charge.